I purchased 7 cu ft Frigidaire at auction. Previous owners stated it had been working well, and was just emptied a few days prior to auction. The freezer coils forms the shelving. Should I fill it with water containers, and freeze them before starting to place food in it? The main purpose for the freezer is so that we can buy larger quantity of beef from local farmer. Beef will be processed and packaged by a state inspected butcher shop. I will continue searching online for Frigidaire manual. I am guessing the model to be 20+ years old.

Probably already happened by now, but leave it upright for 24 hours after moving it before starting it. And realize that your bills for running it will probably exceed the cost of a new, efficient freezer and the cost of running that over the course of a few years.
– EcnerwalJul 4 '15 at 16:54

1 Answer
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That would be a good idea since you want to be sure it works properly before putting a lot of food in it.
Water bottles should be a good volume, but I would not go by ice alone to judge the temperature since it is not accurate. Use a fridge thermometer to check for appropriate temperature.
And I would do this for a few days just in case some mechanical problem occurs. A freezer alarm would be a good idea too.

And check different areas of the freezer -- I had one go bad on me (the outlet had gone bad, was putting out signficantly less than 120V) with the result that part of the freezer was staying frozen, but not the whole thing.
– JoeJul 3 '15 at 16:56

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Also needless to say fill the bottles partially (to leave room in the bottles for expansion). And don't use glass.
– user3169Jul 3 '15 at 18:28